what, so you cant go climb trango without a silly club full of bearded hikers? dont make like it's becuase of MCSA that those things were done. I have seen mountains like this before I was a member of the hikers club. Now, alas, I have a beard myself but I refuse to go on their hikes anymore. All those campfires chatting about light nappy things sipping tea and crunching a bicci has made me wanna be sick. MCSA should change it's name to OFHCSA - old farts hiking club of SA.

Thanks very much for the entertainment - you have quite obviously lost your marbles and are probably the biggest poncey wanabee. From now on I will treat your comments as rantings of a maniac. In fact I suspect that ClimbZA is paying you to make this forum a little more interesting. After all, responsible people are so damn boring.

I hope that all the other climbers who have responded to Dingo's rantings will from now on just treat his comments as good entertainment.

The MCSA is definitely worth joining. As a \"Boertjie\" I can say for certain they treat all equal. The rules are there to ensure that the MCSA, its access and its properties are protected against negative elements. So join us and find out.

Gotta be honest Anon, if the minimal paperwork and admin (compared to just about anything else organised in this country) to join MCSA is scaring you off, maybe u should do your own thing.

I joined with a low degree of fuss and found people really friendly and welcoming. And that was across the ages. I have had one of the best year's of my life since joining because I get out to magical, natural places EVERY weekend if I want to, and I didn't know one single soul in the club when I joined.

I had no idea where the crags were and had never climbed before. At that point the value was enormous. Now, having become addicted to the sport and having enough connections not to have to always go to meets to climb, I still perceive huge value in the access I have, as well as all the behind the scenes stuff they do, which isnt quite so obvious.

You aren't forced to join, or stay or not join. Stop griping about a bunch of people who do mostly good things with money that is freely given.

Ok guys - some folks seem to be missing the point. The MCSA is a CLUB, just like any other - it is a group of people who have a common interest and have joined together to further that interest. Like with any other club, if everyone sits back and expects someone else to do stuff for them then the club goes nowhere. If people climb in and decide to get stuff done then things get done. If the club doesn't suit you then you have two choices - leave it alone and go and find another club (or a commercial guiding service), or join and then start doing some of the stuff that needs to be done.

As to joining being difficult - it's only difficult because you think it is! If you want to go climbing (or hiking) and the club is going climbing or hiking anyway, then why is it so difficult to go with them and get to know people? Once you know a few people then joining is trivial.

Finally, value for money: I've been an MCSA member for the past 12 years. Not once in the past 8 have I failed to get more than my money's worth out of the club. The previous 4 years were break-even. I found that if took advantage of the opportunities offered I got GREAT value. For example: in the past 8 years I have been on the receiving end of multi-day training by overseas specialists brought out by the club no less than 6 times. The 7th time starts tomorrow. Not one of these sessions cost me more than R300 and for most of them that included the cost of food!

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